Taking the long road

Married life has been treating me well. VERY well in fact, if you look at the scale. Before we got married in March 2013, I did a hectic diet (which I will NEVER do again as it completely messed up my metabolism and skin) and I lost 9kg in a very short time. All was good and well at the time because I fitted into my wedding dress and ‘looked good’ for our island honeymoon.

Fast forward a few months and eating so little calories is no longer sustainable, and slowly but surely I started picking up weight again. I am part of the Sleek Geek SA group as well as the Sleek Girls group on Facebook. The Sleek Girls group is a private group (so an existing member has to add you to the group) and it’s for ladies only – here you can talk about weight loss, lifestyle and much more. You can share your weight loss progress photos, ask for advice, vent or just lurk. I was a lurker (I still am, actually). I would frantically ‘like’ all of the progress pics and wish that was me sharing my story, but in reality I was still sitting flat on my bum behind my computer.

It took me a long time to get to the point where I realised my lifestyle is not healthy. I was always looking for the easy way / pill / treatment to lose weight – I didn’t want to make lifestyle changes and incorporate exercise. In a couple of years we want to start a family, and I expect my body to (literally) grow a human but I’m not looking after it properly. That’s not fair.

I knew my metabolism was messed up so I decided to consult a nutritionist to help me with a proper eating plan. I got in touch with Jaqui via the Sleek Girls group and it’s been one of the best investments I’ve made in my journey towards getting healthy. In the past I’ve done every possible diet you can think off – and I always lost weight – but eventually I’d put it back on, mostly because the diets were not sustainable. Together with Jaqui we worked out an eating plan that fits my lifestyle (I’m still allowed to have wine, yay!) and I am now about four weeks into my journey of taking care of myself, from the inside out. I’m eating well, I’m exercising regularly, I’m getting enough sleep and I’m slowly but surely learning to balance work and life better.

This approach however does not show results fast. I’ve wrecked havoc on my metabolism, so it’s understandable that it will take time to reverse the results. However, I’m SO impatient. If I’m on a weight loss mission, I want to see results at least after the first week. Through this journey I’ve come to realise that I need to be more patient and put in the effort (not once or twice, but for consistently for weeks) before I’ll see results.

I have been skinny before – very skinny, but unhealthy. Through this journey of getting healthy and reading up and educating myself, I have now decided that the number on the scale will not rule me. Instead, the same day that I went to see Jaqui for the first time, I also took my measurements. Two weeks into the eating plan, the scale said I weighed 2kg more, which made me want to reach for the biggest slab of chocolate. Instead, I decided to take my measurements too. And you know what? Almost everywhere I lost a centimeter. It’s not much, but it added up to 10cm overall, which was a great motivator. The next day I checked in with Jaqui who took my body fat measurements again and voila – I was down more than 2% in body fat. That’s when I decided – screw the scale. From now on I’m going to track my progress with a measuring tape and calipers.

So while I’m getting used to this new lifestyle and the idea of exercising every day, so far it’s been worth it. For me, it’s more of a mind thing to keep me motivated – now that I’ve seen results it’s much easier to keep my head in the game. I think once the physical changes become more visible it will be even easier.

For now, I’m eating healthy and exercising every day while trying to remember that consistency gets you results. How do you take care of your body? If you have any tips, let me know! I’d love to hear from you – chat to me in the comments 🙂

I’m still okay with the no sugar but the no wine is a deal breaker for me! I’m really struggling to cut out my glass of wine per evening. But yes, now that summer is around the corner it’s much easier to be active. Bikini lyfies hier kom ons! 🙂